It’s a Wonderful Life in Christ!

Tis the season for pulling out our VHS or DVD copies of Frank Capra’s 1946 classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, and being reminded that our lives on this earth matter.

If you decide to watch this Christmas favorite, you might just be a little more inspired to leave this world a better place than you found it.

Can I be honest with you, though?

When I started watching this movie for the first time, I thought it was kind of depressing.

I wondered, Why is this movie a Christmas favorite?

It’s about a guy named George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart) who has these big dreams he doesn’t see realized because of his sacrificial kindness to others.

He keeps doing the right thing, but he’s not always happy about it because it seems to be getting in the way of his dreams.

George’s perceived “obligations” appear to be obstacles to his happiness.

(Watch it all they way through and your heart will likely be warmed by the ending.)

I’m wondering, dear Christian, do you have perceived obligations in your walk with Christ that are keeping you from enjoying your new life in Him?

Do you have an internal list of shoulds, oughts, and musts that aren’t being completely crossed off, and as a result, you feel like God isn’t pleased with you?

If you said yes to either or both of the above, then you need to know that you can experience a truly wonderful life in Christ—if you will only adjust your perspective.

If you don’t have your New Covenant glasses on while you are reading God’s Word and going about your daily living, then I want to help you put them on.

This may come as a shock to you, but God doesn’t need you to work for Him (Acts 17:25).

He created you because He wants you to be the object of His lavish affection (1 John 4:19).

He knit you together in your mother’s womb because He wanted you in His eternal family (Psalm 139:13; John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:18).

He sent His Son Jesus Christ to this earth to die on a Cross to forgive your lifetime sin debt and to give you new life in Him when you believed in (into) Him (John 6:47; 17:3; 1 John 5:11, 20).

More than anything, He wants you to savor His eternal life and love in you and live from His abundance within you everyday!

He wants you to delight in His endless delight in you!

Apart from what you do.

That’s right.

Your new life in Christ is not about a list of rules, regulations, or requirements in order to be pleasing to God.

He is permanently pleased with you through your faith in His Son (Hebrews 11:6).

This wonderful life in Christ is all about His special love for you and experiencing His abundant life that resides in you day in and day out!

It’s a love story, not a business proposition.

He’s not your boss; He’s the Beautiful Lover of your soul!

As you learn to live from His wonderful life within you, your experience and progressive expression will be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and righteousness (Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 1:11).

It’s a wonderful life in Christ!

Decide today to stop living from obligation and start living in the wonderful realization of what He has already and forever accomplished for and in you!

He loves you so much and wants you to savor your wonderful new life in Him!

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If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to check out all of my books and my video series based on my first devotional.